Welcome to MSMVPS.COM Sign in | Join | Help

July 2005 - Posts

If you think your SBS 2003 server shuts down a smidge slower after SP1?

You are right. Live with it [see note below for reasonable shut down times] Microsoft Issues Fix for SBS 2003 Slow Shutdown: The shutdown process takes longer than expected to finish on a Windows Small Business Server 2003-based computer: Now what Read More
posted Sunday, July 31, 2005 6:15 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under: ,

Who knew a phone speaks more languages than I do?

I've always said that I speak Californian...not English...but Californian.  And somehow I slid through my high school and college years not being forced to learn enough of a foreign language to be literate in anything other than Californian.  Read More
posted Sunday, July 31, 2005 12:20 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Wanted... a little simplicity

In SBS 2000, we had built into Exchange an internal instant messaging inside the office.  It was our internal lunch ordering system “Hey Susan, what do you want for lunch?”, it was our internal 'ping' system to tell someone was in the Read More
posted Saturday, July 30, 2005 8:24 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

Hey, are you a Small Business Specialist?

Microsoft names local business as specialistRecord-Journal - Meriden,CT,USA... he took an exam to show his knowledge when it comes to programs such as Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Office 2003 and Windows Small Business Server 2003. ... Microsoft Read More
posted Saturday, July 30, 2005 12:34 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Warning reading this post could lead to hearing an annoying song in your head

I'm warning you...but this is just too good of a post not to view Top 10 Rides if Microsoft owned Disneyland And if the song isn't stuck in your head already...you can listen to it here   Read More
posted Saturday, July 30, 2005 12:38 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Dear Steve:

Dear Steve:  I used to call you Mr. Ballmer, but we've swapped emails a rare time or two [yes he does email back] and I've used this blog venue a time or two as well so I think I can call you Steve now.  I just read where you announced Read More
posted Friday, July 29, 2005 8:14 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

Looking for SKU codes?

The SKU codes for the Volume license media for SBS 2003 sp1 are: SBS 2003 sp1 [slipstream media] T75-00605 Just the service pack is T75-00623 These can be ordered through the MS volume license fulfillment at 1-800-248-0655 [US/Canada - worldwide Read More
posted Friday, July 29, 2005 6:13 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

If you are an Exchange 5.5 owner, read this:

If you happen to be the proud owner of an Exchange 5.5 mail system...come a little closer... Closer.... Closer... IT'S TIME TO MIGRATE OFF!!!! You heard me.  According to this there are 400,000 of you guys in the small to medium space and you Read More
posted Friday, July 29, 2005 5:57 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

Genuine Advantage Checker now required for manual downloads

Piracy-check mandatory for Windows add-ons   If you Windows Update or Microsoft Update manually these days, you need to download the Genuine Advantage file 'before' getting updates.    I checked and Shavlik [and I presume other patch Read More
posted Friday, July 29, 2005 7:13 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

I got no strings

  So the partner in my office went to make changes to his address book and then got out the usb cable to syncronize the phone.  But wait.. we don't need any cables.  The cool thing about the Audiovox 5660 phone [aka the SeanDaniel.com Read More
posted Thursday, July 28, 2005 11:06 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

A little shadowing of our sessions

Just a heads up ...from the ever useful blogger SeanDaniel.com comes the answer to a question I've seen a few people ask about.  How can I 'shadow' a session to show the person on the other side what I am doing when I take over their computer? Read More
posted Thursday, July 28, 2005 10:44 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

WSUS resources

At the SMB technology network in Los Angeles I did a presentation on WSUS [Windows Software Update services] and I want to make sure everyone has a heads up about a new resource for WSUS: The WSUS blog: WSUS Product Team Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/bobbie_harder_msft/ Read More
posted Thursday, July 28, 2005 10:33 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Heads up about APC software and Servers stuck on applying computer settings

In order for PowerChute Business Edition to remain functional, users must upgrade to any version of 7.x. Due to expiration of the Sun Java Runtime Environment certificate, versions 6.x of PowerChute Business Edition will cease to operate normally Read More
posted Thursday, July 28, 2005 4:52 PM by bradley | 31 Comments
Filed Under:

The last law of security

Law #10: Technology is not a panacea Technology can do some amazing things. Recent years have seen the development of ever-cheaper and more powerful hardware, software that harnesses the hardware to open new vistas for computer users, as well as advancements Read More
posted Thursday, July 28, 2005 1:09 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

We're looking to start a support group for former Enterprise Admins who are now SBSers

<with special thanks to the fabulous, beautiful, charming and brilliant Lanwench who graciously allowed me to steal this from something she wrote about her thoughts about SBS.  In this post she lists all the things about SBS that may [will?] drive Read More
posted Wednesday, July 27, 2005 7:19 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

56 k anyone?

<disclosure -- I think anyone on dial up is insane and a glutton for punishment...but..> From the mailbag today comes the question if you can connect an SBS box to the Internet using a dial up modem.  All he has used is a high speed connection. Read More
posted Wednesday, July 27, 2005 6:56 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Building a box

When I build a box.... a server or a workstation ...it's always 'behind' a router.  Just ..well...just because.  Building a system behind a firewall means that I can be a bit sloppy...that said you do realize that when the other day I talked Read More
posted Wednesday, July 27, 2005 6:00 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

There are times I am SOOOOOOO blonde - As the Cingular Turns part three

Sometimes it's the stupid little things that trip you up and then get you frustrated so you don't check the things that are trying to tell you the problem. Here it was...in my event logs for the last day trying to tell me ...Girl... hello.... the user Read More
posted Wednesday, July 27, 2005 12:38 PM by bradley | 10 Comments
Filed Under: ,

As the Cingular Turns, part 2...

The good news the Audiovox is now connecting to the Internet [uh...fixed that one with the Cingular guy having me turn the phone off and then on again] hmmm .... I'm not doing something right.... While I have the active sync 3.8 on the workstation, Read More
posted Wednesday, July 27, 2005 12:02 AM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under: ,

You know you are a geek when...

You are standing in the bank and you recognize the exact make and model of the Dell small terminals they are using as teller workstations. You stand in such a way to see the screensaver so you can see what OS they are running [Windows 2000] And when Read More
posted Tuesday, July 26, 2005 6:18 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

I argued with a computer today

So I'm at a bank and in order to complete the transaction with involved ordering historical items, I needed to pay for the copies of the items.  Problem was, I wasn't a customer of the bank. Do you take checks? No, cashiers check, cash or money Read More
posted Tuesday, July 26, 2005 6:04 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Checking the basics

Got an email today from a SBS newbie and he asked if he should connect to the Internet first while the box was still on Standard or connect after installing ISA Server 2004.  And I honestly said that I like stopping after the 'Standard” install Read More
posted Tuesday, July 26, 2005 12:42 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Technology is never quite as easy as it seems

Well here I am back home reading the... um... cdrom I guess you'd call it.  The Audiovox didn't come with a manual, just a quickstart guide and instead with a cdrom that you had to browse to find the PDF manual.  And I'm obviously missing something.  Read More
posted Monday, July 25, 2005 11:45 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under: ,

I'm off to do a bit of geek shopping

I'm off to the Cingular store to do a bit of geek shopping.  I'm getting a Audiovox SMT 5600 Smartphone for the office [no it's not mine].  But I've got the OMA ready to go so now it's just a matter of picking up the phone. Keep you posted... Read More
posted Monday, July 25, 2005 6:00 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

For those that provide services to CPAs and Tax professionals in the USA

We are now required to add a 'blurb' on our correspondence including email ..... just a heads up if you do any work for Tax professionals you need to guide them to add a 'signature". I use http://www.policypatrol.com/ [because I had it on my SBS 4.5/2000 Read More
posted Monday, July 25, 2005 5:38 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

After Windows 2000 update rollup 1 SP4 and if you have Sophos... are your machines slow to boot?

Advisory: Sophos Anti-Virus for Windows 2000/XP/2003 - conflict with Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4 Customers using Sophos Anti-Virus for Windows 2000/XP/2003 version 5 may experience problems after updating to Microsoft Update Rollup 1 for Windows Read More
posted Monday, July 25, 2005 5:33 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

SBS 2003 sp1 revisited - OEM story

A email from the mailbag today reminded me that we need to revisit a few things about SBS 2003 sp1 On Dell boxes, as long as you either (a) have Dell Open Manage 4.4 [located here] or (b) remove Dell Open Manage we no longer are waiting on that piece Read More
posted Monday, July 25, 2005 5:29 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Live logging in ISA is indeed cool

Tristan links to my post and now I'm linking to his.  Live logging is very cool.  Like he says it's in the Monitoring area, on the Logging tab - just set the Log Time field to Live, and hit Start (optionally filtering on some useful Read More
posted Monday, July 25, 2005 12:07 AM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under: ,

"I haven't got the slightest friggen clue what you just said."

Sometimes you get the funniest things said to you.  It all started when someone asked how to stop spyware and even with Firefox and a firewall they were still being infected and overwhelmed.  And I told them in addition to the Microsoft Antispyware Read More
posted Sunday, July 24, 2005 11:52 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under: ,

What's the best security tool you have?

Quick question...what's the hands down best security tool you have?  Think about it for a sec..... okay got it? What is it? Did you say your users?  Kevin Mitnik thinks that's what the answer is.  On a daily basis I get paypal, banking Read More
posted Sunday, July 24, 2005 11:29 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Having issues with saving Word Docs to floppy disks after the application of Windows 2000 SP4 Update Rollup 1

Fellow MVPs have been reporting that after the application of the Windows 2000 service pack 4 update rollup they could not save anymore to floppy disks from Microsoft Word. PC Review - KB891861 - Update rollup 1 for 2000 service pack 4 (specifically Read More
posted Saturday, July 23, 2005 9:16 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Accepting Risk

Accepting risk.  You do it every day.  For those that are consultants you accept risk on behalf of your clients.  You click on EULAs, you download patches, you install stuff on a regular basis and you accept risk for your clients.  Read More
posted Saturday, July 23, 2005 3:10 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

Okay let's duke it out... One nic or two?

You heard me... we already had the Terminal server argument done to death..let's have the one nic or two religious argument. I like two nics.  I like a separation from the internal and external network.  I like then having another small router Read More
posted Saturday, July 23, 2005 1:10 PM by bradley | 7 Comments
Filed Under:

We're adding a new service and running the wizard

Following the Mobility document... we're going to be getting an Audiovox phone and I need to go back in and redo the Connect to Internet wizard. I've gone to to the 'todo' list and rerun the wizard to turn on OMA [Outlook Mobile Access].  On page Read More
posted Friday, July 22, 2005 7:50 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

I had a local admin on a desktop...I don't anymore

One more down... a few more to go.  Slowly and surely I'm taking back the use of local admin from the workstations.  Yesterday one of my computer users got one more pop up on her IE and it was driving her crazy.  So I sat down and tweaked Read More
posted Friday, July 22, 2005 6:36 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

The perfect solution for a small business

If you read this article you would think that the answers to your prayers is Open Source software because of course..it's free. There's one problem with this article. There's only about 1%...maybe 5% of the world's small businesses can take a 'free' Read More
posted Friday, July 22, 2005 6:06 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

We're shopping for a email system that we can talk on

The battery is dying on the phone that a partner uses in the office and ...well.. we're going to look into some uber geek stuff in replacement for that battery that just won't hold a charge anymore.  And how was my task given to me? “I saw Read More
posted Friday, July 22, 2005 1:11 AM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

A bit more reports like I want them

Yesterday I complained to some ISA folks that the ISA 2004 reports just didn't do what I wanted them to and when I went to go look at the raw files, because they are in msde I was not quite sure how to read them or even open them up. What a difference Read More
posted Thursday, July 21, 2005 10:28 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

I don't want to be anonymous...but I do demand that I'm secure

Law #9: Absolute anonymity isn't practical, in real life or on the Web All human interaction involves exchanging data of some kind. If someone weaves enough of that data together, they can identify you. Think about all the information that a person can Read More
posted Thursday, July 21, 2005 6:26 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

How do you buy CALs?

Rob from the mailbox asks “How does one buy CALs?”  Where do you buy them?  Do they come on paper?  In an email?  How long does the process take?” If you buy your CALs from an OEM, there are boxes on the web site Read More
posted Wednesday, July 20, 2005 1:15 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
Filed Under:

How long does it take to deploy a SBS box?

Nick from the mail bag asks about baseline numbers for SBS installs.  He was looking at a whitepaper on server installs and wanted to know if there were/are any SBSized versions of that. Hmm...not that I know of Nick, but the problem as you have Read More
posted Wednesday, July 20, 2005 12:56 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

MCE on a SBS domain

Media Center Edition.  Think it's just for the home?  I think there's another untapped marketplace out there. At the SMB Technology Network several of those in attendance mentioned that they were getting asked about installing MCE in the Read More
posted Wednesday, July 20, 2005 12:49 AM by bradley | 6 Comments
Filed Under:

WSUS on OEM

Just to let a couple of folks from the mailbag know that we're still following the issue on getting WSUS installed on OEM preinstalled systems [see the comment section].  For now, still hang tight and don't use any of the workarounds or Read More
posted Tuesday, July 19, 2005 8:43 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Are you OOF?

OOF?  OOF?  Are you OOF this time of year? Originally the initials for the Out of Office notification stood for “Out of Facilities” [ergo the OOF] and they can not only be annoying, but mailbox filling up devices as well as major social engineering Read More
posted Tuesday, July 19, 2005 6:35 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

A little uninstall... a huge step forward for patching

Did everyone catch this KB? Information about the ability to uninstall Office updates: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=903771 The security update for Word 2002 that is described in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 895589 was the first Office update Read More
posted Tuesday, July 19, 2005 6:18 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Don't look at me to calculate this stuff

Always at the restaurant when the check arrives they look to the beancounters to add the tip and split the tab... which while the tip in California can normally be determined by doubling the sales tax, to split a total, I normally say “hey Read More
posted Tuesday, July 19, 2005 12:20 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

A little prevention to stop keyloggers

Tonight on ABC news they had an report on keyloggers.. except there was one major problem... all it did was scare people and not give any solutions.  At the SMB Technology network event two of the consultants on hand and I were talking about SB 1386 Read More
posted Tuesday, July 19, 2005 12:13 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Getting a prompt to install Office?

There is nothing so annoying as a “known issue” Today's version is from Symantec: Windows Installer prompts for Microsoft Office or WordPerfect CD after installing Symantec Client Security 3.0 or Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition 10.0 Read More
posted Sunday, July 17, 2005 9:52 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

RDP Security Alert - should we be concerned?

Microsoft released a Security Advisory regarding a Denial of Service on Remote Desktop Protocol and for me, I'm not freaking out over this for a couple of reasons. For one, it's 'just' a denial of service and I'd much rather have that than a “run Read More
posted Sunday, July 17, 2005 6:46 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

Using MBSA 2.0 and can't scan your workstations?

If you can't remotely scan your XP sp2 workstations that have the firewall enabled in your SBS network, you will hit an issue:   " The use of DCOM for remote scanning through Windows Firewall on all versions of Windows XP may require a post-SP2 Read More
posted Sunday, July 17, 2005 6:32 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Must have RSS feeds

For the benefits of those at SMB Technology network some must have RSS feeds..... RSS is the little orange button on web sites that you can use Feedreader or Newsgator to pull these 'feeds' into your reader software so that the information gets PUSHED Read More
posted Saturday, July 16, 2005 12:54 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
Filed Under:

The power of...

This morning while waiting for California Adventure to fully open [so we could ride the Grizzley River run and get soaked] the Disney cast member keeping us behind the barrier was giving a lesson in community. I was recently called a 'hard core community Read More
posted Friday, July 15, 2005 2:11 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

A bit of magic, pixie dust, stuff and a lot of technology

This year for Disneyland's 50th anniversary they are doing an amazing Fireworks display that is part old fashioned Fireworks and a lot of newfashioned technology.  A bit of lasers, one amazing rigging to allow Tinkerbell to fly around like she's Read More
posted Friday, July 15, 2005 12:16 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Logmein reviewed on SC Magazine

One of the presenters at SMB Technology Network is Logmein which just happened to get reviewed by a Security magazine.  Check out the review before you meet up with them tomorrow at the SMB Technology Network Summer Conference. Read More
posted Friday, July 15, 2005 12:08 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

At SMB Technology Network

And hearing about the new Small Business Specialist program with Art Pettigrue and they were talking about how they did a pilot of this in Denmark and Italy.  There's a new newsgroup for Small Business Specialist [hmmmm another NNTP community I'll Read More
posted Thursday, July 14, 2005 3:20 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Ooh there is highspeed access

Here in Anaheim for the SMBTechnology Network and Disneylands 50th...and they have highspeed access..... ...okay so I need a life.... Blogging will be light but I'll blog from the SMBTechnology Network event.   Read More
posted Wednesday, July 13, 2005 11:56 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Thank you Mr. Ballmer

Microsoft/Claria Deal Dead http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3519521 Microsoft has ended its acquisition talks with behavioral targeting firm Claria, ClickZ News has learned from a source close to the discussions. A Microsoft spokesperson later confirmed Read More
posted Tuesday, July 12, 2005 10:23 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

Macs on SBS?

From the mailbag today...   I wonder if you have had any situations where you need to allow a Macintosh to remotely access an SBS server.  We have a client that wants to use a Mac as her computer at home (she is a work-at-home employee), and Read More
posted Tuesday, July 12, 2005 10:14 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
Filed Under: ,

When do we use Smarthost versus DNS to bounce email?

A follow up to yesterday's post on SMTP....remember we can use this smarthost 1. When we are using POP [yeah yeah I know] inbound and thus we need to use this outbound. 2.  When we have a problem with some email addresses/domains...like AOL...and Read More
posted Tuesday, July 12, 2005 10:07 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Security bulletins today

 July 12, 2005 Today Microsoft released the following Security Bulletin(s). Note: www.microsoft.com/technet/security and www.microsoft.com/security are authoritative in all matters concerning Microsoft Security Bulletins! ANY e-mail, web board or Read More
posted Tuesday, July 12, 2005 8:59 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Translating an error code [how to set up a smarthost]

“A non-delivery report with a status code of 5.4.0 was generated for recipient   Causes: This message indicates a DNS problem or an IP address configuration problem Solution: Check the DNS using nslookup or dnsq. Verify the IP address Read More
posted Tuesday, July 12, 2005 12:49 AM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

Emails and archives

The question from the mailbox today is about backing up email and searching for email...  My questions are "what do you use/ have used, and being that I'm using USB Hard Drives for backups using the SBS2003 NTBackup utility, what you would suggest Read More
posted Monday, July 11, 2005 11:31 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

The incident

Longhorn following Unix on security? | The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/11/longhorn_security/ "In October 2003 someone asked: 'How come, when I go to a Windows machine, everyone has to be an administrator?'," Nash told conference delegates, Read More
posted Monday, July 11, 2005 12:06 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

The shades of color between black and white

Someone posted something...and me in my stupid reactionaly opinionated way, emailed the poster back and argued that the point he made was missing the bigger picture.  I argued that with XP, the use of blank passwords wasn't the threat it used to Read More
posted Monday, July 11, 2005 12:08 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

It's not far off

Right around the corner is the end of the early bird discount for SMBnation, the SBS love fest and conference, Sept 9 - 11, 2005 in Mothership Redmond.  Never been?  Been before but wondering what's new this year? What's returning this year? Read More
posted Saturday, July 09, 2005 9:59 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Blog is a four letter word for better communication in my dictionary

There are some firms that get blogging and some that don't.  I see blogging as more than just a daily diary.. it's a bit more of a business philosophy I think.  Out on Scobles blog I found this link -- http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2005/07/follow-up_dell.html Read More
posted Saturday, July 09, 2005 5:17 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

The human impact of Sasser

You know...too many times we live in a fast world and don't think about the impact that technology has ...good...and bad.... In Stepto's blog [Stepto works for the Microsoft Security Resource Center] he talks about the personal impact Sasser had on him.  Read More
posted Saturday, July 09, 2005 4:52 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

We can't just service pack the users 'eh?

From reading the news reports... Human Factors Overtake Technology as Leading Security Threat for Financial Institutions: SurveyDeloitte’s third annual Global Security Survey for financial institutions shows that the efforts of those committing Read More
posted Friday, July 08, 2005 8:38 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Let's clarify that newsstory please?

Florida man arrested for unauthorized use of WiFi screams the headline....as I sheepishly ....not that I know anyone that did this mind you.....was updating a computer at some unnamed office and the wifi connection coming from gawd knows where was stronger Read More
posted Friday, July 08, 2005 8:28 PM by bradley | 5 Comments
Filed Under:

Perhaps he needs to hang around the Security newsgroups a bit?

CNN.com - Sasser author gets suspended term - Jul 8, 2005: http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/07/08/sasser.suspended/index.html Okay let me get this straight....because he 'created' the virus when he was 17, but only released it on his 18th birthday and thus Read More
posted Friday, July 08, 2005 8:04 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
Filed Under:

The Motherships

If you are a reader of the blog you'll have heard me talk about the “Motherships”.  Basically it's those folks around the world that are tasked to keep an eye on us.  Sometimes those folks need our help.  On Charlie's blog Read More
posted Friday, July 08, 2005 5:27 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

SBS ...the next version

-- Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2. Microsoft plans to release Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 to manufacturing 60 to 90 days after the availability of Windows Server(TM) 2003 R2, which is expected later this year. New products and features Read More
posted Friday, July 08, 2005 12:51 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Hey you? Do you install computers/servers in small businesses?

Hey ...if you install servers and computers in small businesses we have news for you...first off... you are a registered Microsoft Partner, right?...yes?  You are... right? Okay you must have heard me ranting in the past. Now have you taken the Read More
posted Friday, July 08, 2005 12:32 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

For anyone who's ever wanted to know how to troubleshoot Windows Update

How to read the Windowsupdate.log file: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=902093 Manna from heaven... or Redmond anyway... Read More
posted Friday, July 08, 2005 12:13 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

SBS Kbs of interest

Application of Service pack 1 to Small Business Server 2003: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=555325You cannot put a Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003-based computer into hibernation: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=900966The shutdown Read More
posted Friday, July 08, 2005 12:06 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Secure access for a beancounter

In the newsgroup today someone asked for the most secure access to allow an accountant to access an accounting file. First off.. I'm going to guess that's Quickbooks.  And while you can set up a remote web workplace machine and ACL the heck out Read More
posted Thursday, July 07, 2005 11:06 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Patches next week

Please note that there are certain non security patches that will only come out with MU and WSUS.******************************************************************** Title: July 2005 Microsoft Security Response Center Bulletin Notification Issued: Read More
posted Thursday, July 07, 2005 12:12 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Remember Windows update and Microsoft update are two different things

One thing I'm not sure people are still clear on is that there are two ways to update your computer these days.  The first is our old trusty Windows Update that “just” updates Windows. Microsoft updates at this time will patch Windows 'and' Read More
posted Wednesday, July 06, 2005 11:23 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
Filed Under:

To my hero[s]

To the consultants that see SBS as a solution to a business needs. To the consultants that refuse to install Terminal Services in application mode on any domain controller. To the consultants who refuse set things up insecurely. To the ones who will Read More
posted Wednesday, July 06, 2005 7:32 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Not clicking on Dancing Pigs as much according to this survey

CNN.com - Survey: Users change habits to avoid spyware - Jul 6, 2005: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/07/06/spyware.reut/index.html http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Spyware_Report_July_05.pdf 81% of internet users say they have stopped opening Read More
posted Wednesday, July 06, 2005 6:14 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
Filed Under:

Protecting your assets

One of the guys in the office is heading off to the Philippines and while I've done my homework before sending it out to the big bad world [patching, firewall and what not] because the laptop is going so far... I'm kicking up the paranoia.  So I Read More
posted Wednesday, July 06, 2005 12:29 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

The /3GB that won't die

Just to let you folks know that the EHLO blog has a post about the /3 switch and the ...uh... well...they don't specifically talk about SBS. Remember my post from before?  I still don't think we need it but I've asked for official blog clarification Read More
posted Wednesday, July 06, 2005 6:56 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

What about you?

Hmmmmm Nope Nope No Don't remember that one Nope Nope Ah yes Yup Yes Nope Nope Nope A few Unfortunately yes 100% borg now What am I talking about?  This. Looks like that link went off to a page that was trying to Read More
posted Tuesday, July 05, 2005 7:13 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

Cleaning house

There's one problem with my C:drive. It's too big.  It's so big that I get lazy and don't clean it up. Like... I don't throw away the Trend quarantined files, nor the junk in the bad mail.  [Mind you Trend does a bit of an automagic clean up Read More
posted Tuesday, July 05, 2005 7:00 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

Dell, OEM, WSUS and Ed

Reading Charlie's blog  on an issue with Dell Open Manage 4.3 and below and SBS 2003 sp1, reminded me that I've not seen any resolution for you guys on the issue with getting WSUS installed on Dell OEMs.  For one, because I Read More
posted Tuesday, July 05, 2005 6:45 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

Licensing 101

There's a lot of misconceptions that are out about licensing, and one of them that tends to get confused a lot is how to set up Sharepoint for use with clients. Right now, on our SBS boxes, if we want to ensure that the portal is private, secure, password Read More
posted Tuesday, July 05, 2005 6:18 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Hotfix? Got yur' hotfix?

Microsoft Hotfix.  I need a hotfix.   Need one.  And normally at like 12:30 a.m. on Saturday night... I don't know what's up with that.  Call the 800 number for Microsoft.  Press '3' [at least I think it's 3?].  Rattle Read More
posted Tuesday, July 05, 2005 6:03 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Would you like a little CRM with that SBS?

Announcements from the Worldwide Partner Conference -- CRM 3.0 [yes apparently they've leapfrogged past 2.0] will have a version specifically tailored for Small Businesses. Microsoft today revealed Microsoft CRM 3.0, bypassing the long-delayed version Read More
posted Tuesday, July 05, 2005 12:34 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

VOIP may be hot, but I'm still not Peer to Peering

What's hot these days?  Voice over Internet Protocol.  But that doesn't mean I like the way that VOIP is offering up services in all instances.  There are a couple of free [or near free] VOIP options that rely on the same technology as Read More
posted Monday, July 04, 2005 11:27 PM by bradley | 6 Comments
Filed Under:

While at Windows Update, you can upgrade to Microsoft Update

While you are at Windows Update.... on the right hand side there a button to click to upgrade to Microsoft Update. One click and you can opt in to the Microsoft update. Read More
posted Monday, July 04, 2005 10:14 PM by bradley | 5 Comments
Filed Under:

My WU isn't WUing

And the error is 0x80070002 and when I check on the help and support it says:  This error may occur if there is a content mismatch in the DataStore folder and it gives me the following information to fix it: Resolutions 1. Delete Read More
posted Monday, July 04, 2005 9:52 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Need to reinstall Sharepoint after SP1?

Need to reinstall the Sharepoint/intranet post SP1? Try this: 1. Start a cmd prompt and change directory to the SP1 download folder (or the SBS03_SP1 folder on PKG_CD2).2. Type "SBS2003-KB885918-SP1-X86-ENU.EXE /x" (with no quotation marks) and press Read More
posted Sunday, July 03, 2005 10:46 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

I'd like a little auditing please?

One thing that I just recently ensured was reset up in my network at the office was Auditing. Did you know that the default Win2k3 server with default audit events has 10 audit events per second?  With full privilege auditing turned on....generates Read More
posted Sunday, July 03, 2005 10:32 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

What time is it?

What time is it?  No, really, what time is it?  If I wanted to meet up with you at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning and you were in a different time zone, what's the best way to make sure that I arrange to meet you at the right time?  It's Read More
posted Sunday, July 03, 2005 5:11 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

The Cause and Effect

Remember my issue the other day where my app broke after 05-026?  While I fixed it, I glossed over a very important part of the discussion.  The acceptance of the risk I am taking in fixing it. Yup, you heard that right, I made a decision to Read More
posted Sunday, July 03, 2005 11:49 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

The Advice

Was watching a show on Showtime about “Life Coaches” and the statement was made that we don't take advice seriously until we pay for it.  It's funny I was just talking about this the other day to a fellow MVP about how it amazes me that Read More
posted Saturday, July 02, 2005 10:45 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

Law number 8 .... are you up to date?

Law #8: An out of date virus scanner is only marginally better than no virus scanner at all Virus scanners work by comparing the data on your computer against a collection of virus "signatures". Each signature is characteristic of a particular virus, Read More
posted Saturday, July 02, 2005 8:47 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Duct tape, plastic and cardboard

I hope you forgive me... normally this is a technical blog. But tonight I've been watching Apollo 13, a movie I've seen before, a movie I know exactly how it ends, but no matter how many times I watch it, I end up during those last four minutes grabbing Read More
posted Saturday, July 02, 2005 12:19 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

MBSA 2.0 is released

This alert is to notify you of the release of Microsoft BaselineSecurity Analyzer (MBSA) 2.0.MBSA 2.0 offers an intuitive user interface and more informative dialogscompared to previous versions. Using the new Windows Update Agent andMicrosoft Update Read More
posted Friday, July 01, 2005 4:15 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Brand spanking new SBS 2003 sp1 box says it needs the following:

A brand spanking new SBS 2003 sp1 slipstreamed edition is already out date and needs the following patches after going to Microsoft Update Burn them into a cdrom or USB stick to make it easier. KB 896428 - Telnet KB 896422 - SMB KB 896358 - Read More
posted Friday, July 01, 2005 2:48 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Want some cool tools?

A couple of tools for the toolbag Public beta of shared computer toolkit [think kiosks and what not] And then a tool for IE called “dropmyrights“ that keeps the IE from running in Admin mode.  Since we can't get Quickbooks to run Read More
posted Friday, July 01, 2005 12:41 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under: